Another book on the subject:

Defend This Old Town: Williamsburg During The Civil War (Paperback)
by Carol Kettenburgh Dubbs (Author)

"Though Williamsburg lay only fifty miles southeast of Richmond, roads on the Peninsula were so poor that most travelers preferred the speed and comfort of..." (more)
Key Phrases: right redoubts, felled timber, commonplace book, New York, Fort Magruder, Vest Mansion (more...)

List Price: $26.95

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
Defend This Old Town is a riveting war epic of local scale and human dimensions. Taking its title from the cry raised in Williamsburg as the Federal army approached in 1862, Carol Dubbs’s narrative sweeps us into the lives of residents of this small historic city from the secession of Virginia in 1861 to Lee’s surrender four years later. Williamsburg’s Civil War ordeal has never before been told in such depth.

Product Description
Defend This Old Town is a riveting war epic of local scale and human dimensions. Taking its title from the cry raised in Williamsburg as the Federal army approached in 1862, Carol Dubbs’s narrative sweeps us into the lives of residents of this small historic city from the secession of Virginia in 1861 to Lee’s surrender four years later. Williamsburg’s Civil War ordeal has never before been told in such depth.

Product Details
Paperback: 406 pages
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press; New Ed edition (October 30, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807130176
ISBN-13: 978-0807130179
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

Williamsburg's Civil War Chronicle, January 19, 2003
Reviewer: Catherine Flanagan (Williamsburg, VA United States)
Anyone familiar with Colonial Williamsburg will want to learn about this period of its history. Major Civil War figures such as McClellan, Longstreet, Sumner, and Pickett were present, yet the details of the Battle of Williamsburg and the lengthy occupation of the town by Union forces are not widely known. This book compiles the facts and tells the story with excerpts taken directly from the memoirs, journals, and newspaper accounts of those who were there. This is not a fictionalized novel. The movements of the troops are well chronicled, and it is interesting to read the various perspectives on the strategic importance of the Battle of Williamsburg. Anyone interested in Civil War history will treasure the details offered in this book. In my mind, the images of the town's honorable aspirations and its historic significance as represented by the College of William and Mary, Bruton Parish Church, the Mental Asylum, and the care offered the wounded of both sides, were graphically contrasted with the harsh realities of slavery, and a bloody war.

Just as an aside, Williamsburg is my home town. I grew up playing on what was left of Fort Magruder - which was not a whole lot.

JR